Luke From Above
by euripedes
Summary: Luke, an ordinary guy from California, makes a trip to New York City for work. What he encounters is unbelievable... Story is loosely based on myself, as the main character is basically me.
1. The Park

Chapter 1

He awoke to the sound of his blaring alarm. He reached around for his phone in the dim light of the electric candle on his dresser. he dragged the icon on the screen to "snooze". Lately, it seemed most days he hit snooze.

He returned to sleep and dreamt of lazy mornings filled with classical music in the background, eating hearty breakfasts and sipping piping hot coffee on the deck. The alarm, once again, screamed at him. He sat up before turning it off, fearing he may fall back asleep if he turned it off before getting out of bed. He sleepily walked to the kitchen, poured a glass of water, and chugged the whole thing down. He then cupped his hands, filled them with water, and splashed the water into his face, "Ahh," he sighed.

Nothing like a cool splash of water in the face to wake you up at four thirty in the morning on a Monday. He let out a long groan of annoyance at the fact that he was about to face another workweek. He worked as a technician for a beverage company. It was often a tedious yet rewarding job, as the pay was good and he did a relatively small amount of work.

He put some water on the stove to boil, and made some coffee. He threw two pieces of toast under the broiler to toast, fried a couple of eggs, and sat down to eat. He always disliked getting out of bed so early, but being awake to see the sunrise was always worth it. He watched an orange glow fill the sky as he wolfed down his food and drained his coffee.

He was about to walk out the door when he felt like he was forgetting something. He racked his brain for a minute, and then decided it was nothing. He shook his head and off to work he went. Driving early in the morning meant no traffic, which again, made him grateful to be awake before the rest of the city. He arrived just before six o'clock, got out of his company issued work van, and stretched his muscles. He had food and coffee in his belly, and he was ready to face the day that was bound to be filled with service calls, as it was summer time, and let's face it; people liked to drink beer when it was hot.

The Monday went by as any Monday would, slowly and dreadfully. The morning passed by after what seemed like a full day, and it was time for lunch. He had forgotten to pack a lunch that morning.

"Damn," He sighed.

He promptly drove to the nearest burger joint to get some sustenance, as he only had thirty minutes for lunch. He made it in time to quickly order a burger and fries, which he normally strayed away from. He preferred a healthier diet, full of salads, fresh veggies, and minimal meat. He sat down and started eating the burger anyway, knowing it was the only way he'd be able to get through the day.

Halfway through his meal, he received a call from his boss, who was a cheerful, middle-aged man. "Luke, just calling to let you know that you need to go renew your certification next week! I know it's last minute, but you don't need to worry about anything. We will fly you out there and put you in a hotel for the week, you'll love it!" And before Luke could squeeze anything into the conversation, his boss hurriedly said, "Oh! Gotta run! Thanks bud." Click. The phone hang up.

Luke had been once before to get certified. The company headquarters was smack dab in the middle of New York City, in a huge skyscraper next to Central Park. He had enjoyed the trip across the country, as he lived in a small town in California, but he truly preferred the quieter town he lived in. He was a simple, humble man who longed for a life where he could keep a few cattle, goats, chickens, and a large garden to sustain him. This was his one true life dream.

Now that he knew he had to travel next week, Luke began to feel anxious. He hated flying, and the thought of planes freaked him out. It just didn't make any sense to him how a large metal object filled with people could safely fly through the air at several hundred miles per hour. Weird. But he began to brace for it, anyway

Surprisingly, the rest of the week flew by. Luke happily finished the work he had cut out for him. He liked to have a task to do. His initial nature would be to lay around and be lazy, but he much preferred doing meaningful things. Things like running, playing music, gardening, and cooking. These things fulfilled his life and kept him busier more than anything else.

As fast as Friday rolled around, it finished just as quickly. He hurried home in light traffic. He was going to go take a bike ride through the town. He got home, changed into shorts and a t-shirt, and jumped on his bike. He enjoyed riding down the big hill, around the sharp bend, and into town. The freedom of cruising on a bike was something he savored.

As he came into town, he was pleasantly surprised at the sight of large, white tents. Friday was farmer's market day, where local farms brought their produce to town and sold it at a reasonable price. He set his bike against the tree, realizing he had forgotten his lock. He contemplated going back to get it for a moment, but decided to just leave it. He'd be nearby, anyway. He perused through the various veggies and fruits and eventually decided on beets and lettuce. With tomatoes and carrots from the garden at home, he'd be able to make a delicious salad.

The woman running this particular stand was someone he had seen several times before, and had talked to several times in the last few months. She offered a discount for being a repeat customer, but he happily paid full price and included a tip. She smiled and said "Luke, you always know how to bring me a smile!" Luke shrugged with a smile, and said "Have a good one." He grabbed his goods and headed back to his bike. He did a double take and saw his friends Garrett and Amir. They had stopped in at the bar across the street from the market. "Garrett!" Luke shouted. His two friends responded with a loud, "Hey man!" Luke walked over to meet them.

As he walked up, he asked "Got any plans tonight?"

To which they responded, "No, why?"

Luke remembered he had some meat he could cook up for them all. "Come on over to my place! I'm gonna make some dinner and drinks." They agreed, and they started walking up to Luke's house.

When they arrived at his house, Luke put on some music and grabbed some beers. He fired up the grill in the backyard and they began to catch up with each other's lives.

It was a nice Friday night, accompanied by friends, jazz, and good food. After they had finished eating, he pulled out his favorite guitar, and strummed and plucked away for a couple hours, as they talked. He found that he often lost himself in music. He could turn off the world for a little bit and just play. They sat out on the deck for nearly three hours before Garrett stood up and yawned, "I've got to get up early tomorrow, I should get going. Thanks for dinner, man!" Amir agreed with Garrett, and Luke walked them out and told them goodnight. Luke cleaned up the kitchen, and upon the feeling of drowsiness, Luke happily slipped into bed late, at around midnight.

His weekend passed quickly, as he kept busy working in the garden and running errands. It was a nice, warm weekend that he enjoyed, yet the thought of flying across the country was there in the back of his mind, nagging him. Sunday night came before he knew it. Luke sighed at the thought of boarding a plane that next morning.

Luke woke up, ate almost no breakfast, and drove to the airport in the late morning, his stomach in a knot. He parked in the lot where you could keep your car for several days while you were out of town. As he walked to the terminal, he could feel himself getting slightly dizzy and increasingly nervous. He showed his ticket to the lady at the boarding desk, and walked onto the plane. He was too nervous to really think about anything else going on. He just sat in his seat and stared at the one in front of him. After what seemed like an eternity, the captain announced over the intercom that they were ready to depart. Luke took a deep breath, his vision getting fuzzy. His heart was pumping like crazy and he could hardly feel his fingers and toes. The plane started moving, the engines screaming outside. As they started to leave the ground, Luke heard himself make a moan and then he was out.

Hours later, he woke up to the voice of the flight attendant. She was shaking him awake saying, "Excuse me, sir...sir? We've landed. It's time to get off of the plane now". He shot up, trying to play it off like he hadn't just panicked himself into passing out. "Yeah, I'm good," he said groggily. "Thanks". He departed the plane with his carry on bag, the only thing he brought with him. He somewhat prided himself with being a light traveler. He made his way through the airport and out to the area where cars, mostly taxi cabs, were whisking people away to their next destination.

Luke had only taken a cab a few times, on his last visit to New York, and still wasn't really sure about taxicab customs. He hesitantly waved one down, and gave the driver his destination. He was headed for Central Park.

When he arrived, he handed the driver the cash for the toll and got out of the car. It was about seven hours from his home to New York, and he was starving. He didn't need to be anywhere until the next morning. As it was about dinnertime, he walked to a café on the edge of Central Park. He sat and ate a whole pizza and drank a couple of beers (he had recently turned 21), as a reward for being so brave about his flight. Yeah, right.

The time passed by slowly, but Luke didn't care one bit. He took in the scene, people bustling about, even in the night. People always had somewhere to be, no matter who or where you were.

He finished his meal, paid, and decided to walk around the park with his messenger bag, packed with a few days of clothes and essentials. He walked by flower gardens, couples holding hands, huge trees, and overall just a beautiful scene. He absorbed as much as he could, while he was in the park that night. He walked late into the night, breathing in the warm evening air, and was thankful for where he was.

He saw many interesting things that night, but as the moon came up and people retreated back to their homes, Luke found himself almost alone in the park. He continued along the path when he thought to himself, "It's so quiet, serene. He heard no more people, but he could hear the faint crackling of bugs swarming the streetlights.

It was getting late, and between the flight, the pizza, and the walking, he was exhausted. He began to meander back to his hotel to check in. He started to take the scenic route back. As he came across a small clearing in the vegetation, he noticed something on the path, about fifty feet ahead of him. He blinked several times to make sure he wasn't losing his mind. "Must be a stray dog", he thought. He quietly walked closer, trying to keep his presence a secret.

He crept up a little closer, about twenty feet away now. He could not believe his eyes. He started blinking harder, hoping to reset his vision and bring up a clearer image of the path, as he continued approaching. He must have been imagining this. He came within ten feet of it and blurted out, "There is no freaking way". As the words left his lips, the huge cockroach turned around and saw Luke standing there in awe.


	2. The Decision

Chapter 2

Luke stood there, frozen, as did the gigantic roach. This thing was far beyond anything he'd ever seen. He'd seen some pretty big roaches in his life, as his line of work usually had him in restaurants and bars. Some places weren't always so clean. Unkempt dumpsters and old food always attracted the gross things. But this one here...this one was unreal.

It was standing next to a large hole in the ground. He stared at it for a moment and didn't know if he should run, attack it, scream, cry, or do nothing at all. "This thing is going to eat me alive," he thought. Like one big piece of garbage.

Turns out, he didn't have to make the first move as the roach twitched its antennae and said, "Nothing, the Overlander sees, nothing."

"No. Way. This is not happening", he said to himself through his teeth. He was too shocked to even fully open his mouth. The roach had talked! In English!

"Nothing, the Overlander sees, nothing", the bug repeated. Luke was still at a loss, and simply replied to the roach with, "What?" Was the bug trying to convince him that he IS, in fact, crazy?

"Nothing, the Overlander sees, nothing," said the roach, for the third time and quickly turned around and scurried down into the hole.

Luke stood there for what seemed like an hour but was really a few seconds. What had just happened? Had he really just seen a bug the size of, well, himself? He could not believe it. With a blank, confused look on his face, he began walking to the hotel. "Maybe the scenic route was a mistake," he thought.

He made it to the hotel and checked in. The hostess in the lobby was very kind and helpful. He was up to his room in no time at all. He plopped onto the bed, and sat there awhile, wondering if he was still in reality. Everything else seems to be in place. No one has done anything strange, nor had he seen anything else out of the ordinary all day long. He decided he was exhausted and that was most likely the cause of what had happened. There was nothing really there.

Luke changed into boxers and slid between the sheets. His tired body relaxed easily in the safety of the hotel. "Nothing crazy in here. Not in this room." This thought comforted him for a brief moment, until the phrase starting to play in his head, as if on repeat.

"Nothing, the Overlander sees, nothing. Nothing, the Overlander sees, nothing. Nothing, the Overlander sees, nothing."

What was an Overlander? How could he have imagined this if he had never even heard the word, let alone know its meaning?

These thoughts swam around in his brain for a few minutes before he drifted into sleep. It was never hard for him to fall asleep, even under stress.

He awoke the next morning at about seven, feeling refreshed and hungry, and decided he'd like to try some new places while he was in town. With New York being so vast, he'd have an endless amount of places to try. The feeling of excitement didn't last long, as he realized he had work training. He didn't have to be there until ten that morning, so he got dressed and set out to get some coffee and breakfast. As he walked the streets, he was adamant at keeping his mind off of the previous night's events, but it proved difficult.

He chose a popular coffeehouse that he'd heard of before, and ordered a cup of coffee and a breakfast plate.

"And, how do you like your eggs?", the girl at the counter asked.

" Roach-Poach! Poached, please," he corrected himself.

He sipped the steaming coffee while he waited for the food. He was famished. He took a moment to look around while he drank. He much enjoyed slow mornings, especially seeing all of the people in a hurry. It relaxed him to slow down for a little bit, though he was distracted about the cockroach.

About ten minutes later, the same girl that took his order walked over with a large plate full of steaming food. Eggs, potatoes, bacon, and toast were arranged beautifully on the plate. He breathed in the wonderful aroma of a good, authentic breakfast and dug in.

He finished his food and checked the clock. It was only nine. He had time. He knew what he really wanted to do, but was afraid that he was just playing into mind tricks. He wanted to go see if the hole was still there in the park. He was conflicted at what to do, but thought, "Screw it. What's it going to hurt?"

He left the coffeehouse in a bout of excitement and anxiety. Excited that the hole may not be there, and was imagining it. Anxious that the hole might be there, and it wasn't just his imagination.

He came up closer to the spot where he had seen the roach the night before. He walked into the clearing on the road, and looked. No roach. No hole. "Thank God," he sighed. Relief fell over him. He just stood there, ecstatic that he was not going loony. He turned on a heel to return to the hotel when something caught his eye. There was a rock where the hole had been, and the grass next to it had been matted down. It looked as if the rock was pushed along the ground. It was a thin, wide, oval shaped rock. "Why would someone move it like that?" He thought. "No one would really benefit from moving that rock four feet away, right?" he asked himself.

Luke was slightly annoyed at himself that he'd let himself stay in this spot for so long. He really wanted to leave, and forget it ever even happened, but curiosity got the best of him. He walked over to the rock, kneeled down beside it, and tried to scoot it aside. The rock was heavier than he anticipated, so he picked up a nearby stick to pry the rock up. As he did, the rock budged and cool, stale air rushed out from under the rock, and into Luke's face.

The coughed the musty air out of his lungs and successfully slid the rock over. What lay before him ruled out every possibility that he was crazy. This hole was real. It was there.

Luke sat there, kneeling down by the hole, looking in. Should he go in? Should he forget about it? He was never an adventurous type of guy, but he was very curious about this hole. He thought, "Maybe I'll just go down a little and-" he heard someone coming. It sounded like runners who were having a loud conversation as they jogged along. Luke panicked and slid the rock back over the hole, not wanting anyone to see what he'd found. The joggers passed by and he was once again, left alone with a decision. He stood there, conflicted, and checked his watch. Nine-thirty! He had to get to training!

He rushed back out of the park, across the street, and into the skyscraper. He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket, and the paper read: 47th floor. Great. He hopped onto the nearest elevator and pressed 47. Luckily, only a few people joined him along the way, and it was mostly a straight shot up to his floor.

He followed the room numbers on the wall until he found the right one, 4711. He walked in, and took a seat near the back. About thirty other people were there for the same thing. "Good, more people than I expected," he thought.

The instructor passed around a sign in sheet where he wrote his name and time he arrived. The teacher began shortly, and started with the basics of physics and how it applies to their field of work.

"Yes, liquid always fills whatever container it's in until it reaches equilibrium, blah blah blah, now if I could just find out what's in that hole. I bet it's-"

The instructor calling on Luke to answer a question interrupted his thought. He sat there, clueless as to what the instructor had asked, and felt a rush of embarrassment. The teacher quickly moved on to another person, who answered the question correctly. Great, the teacher probably thought he was an idiot who was there to goof off. He would normally be interested, but his mind was consumed with thoughts of the hole. What was in it? Where did it lead? How big was the cave inside? Did the roach live there?

Luke pondered these things until the two hour long session broke for lunch. "You have one hour," the instructor said as they were all filing out the door to go eat.

Luke thought about how he was going to spend his lunch. Would he go eat? Relax in the shade somewhere? Could he explore the hole, at least minimally, in an hour? Luke thought and thought for a few moments. He was torn.

He took a deep breath. He decided he was going to skip eating lunch today, for the sake of one thing: adventure.


	3. Author's Note

**Hey everyone, this is an author's note. I forgot to add one in. So, this is my first fanfic. I got the idea for it while rereading through the Underland Chronicles for the fourth time. Such great books!**

**Please don't hesitate to give any criticism or praise! Ideas are also welcome. I am somewhat of a grammar nerd, so if you see any errors, please let me know!**

**Did you enjoy these two chapters? Shall I keep writing? Let me know!**

**Fly you high!**


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